Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (13.5-Inch, 2021)

Superb touchpad ; Lovely aluminium design (or optional Alcantara) ; Solid and fast-feel keyboard ; Excellent speakers

Upgrades are pricey ; Display contrast could be higher ; Screen surrounds are large by 2021 standards

It's a small upgrade over the third-gen, but this fourth-gen model is still a favourite. Only small irks - such as dated-looking screen surrounds - impact a laptop that's nigh-on perfect for day-to-day use in almost every other regard.

Distinctive yet understated looks ; Day-long battery life ; Comfy keyboard

Screen bezels still chunky ; Limited ports ; Webcam only average

New silicon gives Microsoft’s ultraportable even better battery life and a healthy performance boost. It’s still not perfect, but can continue to trade blows with the MacBook Air.

Hugely likeable design ; Choice of AMD and Intel CPUs ; Great touchscreen

Graphics performance below par ; Middling battery life ; Cheaper models are Alcantara only

As with the previous generation, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a very nice ultraportable laptop. It’s slim and light, looks great and the keyboard, touchpad and display are all superb. This is a laptop I’d be happy to own and use as my day-to-day...

Excellent display ; Solid performance ; Great battery life

Loud fans ; Tired-looking design ; Powerful models are very expensive

The Surface Laptop 4 meets most of the criteria for a great thin and light laptop, but then so did its predecessor. A lack of upgrades may frustrate prospective buyers, and better value for money will be found elsewhere for more expensive models.

Sleek design and light weight ; Outstanding build quality ; Great display ; Excellent battery life ; First-class trackpad

Outdated AMD processor ; No Thunderbolt support ; Display a tad too dim ; Pricey

Sleek aluminum chassis (in various colors) ; Bright and vivid display ; Quick performance ; Long battery life ; Excellent keyboard and touchpad

Few ports (No Thunderbolt) ; Thick bezels ; Top configs get pricey

Microsoft's Surface Laptop 4 (13-inch) brings faster performance and longer battery life to an already excellent ultra-thin laptop.

Handsome and portable ; Great display ; Battery life fixes the shortcomings of the old model ; Great keyboard and trackpad

Port selection needs updating ; Performance can't match Apple's M1 chip ; Gets expensive for the higher-spec models

sturdy and high-quality metal chassis;decent input devices;good system performance;high picture quality;very good speakers

hardly any maintenance options;no LTE;comparatively short battery runtime;limited configuration options;still no Thunderbolt; limited connectivity;slow response times;bad price-performance ratio;only 1 year warranty

Tiger Lake UP3 CPUs;Decent iGPU;Good battery life;Covers 95% sRGB (Sharp LQ135P1JX51 (SHP 14B3));Average dE value of 0.6 with our Gaming and Web design profile (Sharp LQ135P1JX51 (SHP 14B3));Doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust screen brightness above...

No SD card reader;Soldered memory;Expensive;Basic I/O

The new Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (13.5″) is a stylish-looking device that has a premium all-aluminum build, thin profile, and powerful hardware under the bonnet. The first thing that you’re going to notice is the design of this machine and yes, this...